The New Reality for Charter and Autonomous School Leaders

Abstract

The national educational landscape shows exponential growth of charter, independent, and autonomous schools. Lake and Gross (2012) states that, “According to the most recent numbers available, 5,275 charter schools now enroll about 1.8 million students-about 4 percent of all public school students creating a similarly expanded need for specialized resources to train an expected 7,000 to 23,000 new charter leaders over the next ten years (p. 10). Most educational leadership books focus on skills needed for leaders in traditional public schools; the charter and autonomous school pathway is the road less traveled; asking us to think anew about what leadership on this less-traveled road should look like. Leading a charter or autonomous school in these tough economic times is much like riding a bicycle for the very first time without training wheels, on an unknown road. Those who lead in such an environment will need more than passion and conviction for improving the educational opportunities for our nation's disenfranchised youth. This chapter focuses on the unique realities that confront leaders of smaller autonomous schools. It is designed to give perspective and furnish aspiring, new, and veteran small-school leaders with ideas, skills, and tools to deal with the myriad challenges that confront all urban public school leaders.